3-dodecanoyl-NBD Cholesterol

C-12 NBD Cholesterol is a fluorescently-tagged cholesterol with the hydrophilic NBD fluorophore attached to the hydrophilic end of cholesterol, separated by a 12-carbon spacer. This allows the cholesterol to orient in membrane bilayers while the fluorescent tag is presented outside the bilayer. This should model the behavior of cholesterol in membranes better than the previously-used 25-NBD cholesterol, which positions NBD on the 25th carbon of cholesterol at the hydrophobic terminus. Fluorescently-tagged lipids have been used to study their interactions with proteins, utilization by cells and liposomes, and development of assays for lipid metabolism(1,2,3,4).